Pages

Friday, February 27, 2009

Yikes! I've gotta get myself organized. I think this is two weeks in a row I've been late posting on Friday.

I haven't been reading much lately, I've been trying really hard to focus on my writing and finish my current wip. But occassionally, I'll take a few minutes to read "Writing from the Inside Out" by Dennis Palumbo.

I've been struggling to get back into my writing groove and have enjoyed this book tremendously. He writes with a lot of humor and he makes a lot of sense to me. And, on the upside, I'm getting back in the groove and beginning to enjoy the writing process again.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The other night in the chat room we were talking about one of Cara's stories. The heroine's sisters names were car names, Mercedes and Porsche (spelled Portia). I think the brother's name was Ford.

I mentioned playing off that idea for today's Purple theme and they liked the idea - we'll see how it goes. Below is an excerpt from my story, Savin' Me. I hope it's not too purple because I actually used it!! But I thought it might give an example of what I was thinking.

Erik quirked an eyebrow. How could Elise and Kat possibly be in competition for anything? One was like a Rolls Royce. Compact with overly done curves, high maintenance and pretentious as hell. The other—he flicked a glance to Kat—was like his Harley. Sleek, commanded attention, represented freedom and wild abandon, and provided the ride of a life.

So what kind of description can you guys think of, using car comparisons or names of cars to describe the personality of a person?

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

"I will waste not even a precious second today in anger or hate or jealousy or selfishness. I know that the seeds I sow I will harvest, because every action, good or bad, is always followed by an equal reaction. I will plant only good seeds this day."

Og Mandino1923-1996, Author and Speaker

Wow, what a tall order. To not even waste a second in anger or hate or jealousy or selfishness?

Friday, February 20, 2009

Eek...Running behind this morning but I wanted to share with you guys what I was reading. Especially since several of you were instrumental in my getting it (although you didn't know).

I'll explain.

Several of you have encouraged me to write a NASCAR story, and...well, I'm thinking about it. I have an idea and it involves one of the characters having amnesia. Since I don't know a thing about the subject, I went to the library and found several books about it. Two of the books are written from the scientific standpoint. This book is written by a woman who had amnesia.

It's an interesting book, but it has also been helpful in a way I never would have expected. Since having his surgery, and then experiencing a grand mal seizure in July of last year, my husbands memory is iffy at times.

Things he's known all of his life, he doesn't remember now. And thing that happened just prior to the seizure last year, he doesn't remember. Sometimes I get frustrated and impatient (especially when we repeat the same conversation three days in a row) but this book has been great in helping me understand things from his point-of-view. I also get to see how another spouse handled some of these same situtations and guess what? I'm only human so...it doesn't make it okay that I get irritated, but it does seem to be a natural response. LOL

I doubt any of you will rush right out and pick up this book. But I wanted to share it with you guys anyway.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

So, (hehe...my absolute favorite word in the whole wide world) I laid in bed Tuesday night thinking and thinking and thinking. And nothing purple came to me. I spent all day Wednesday running errands and preparing for the masses of family we have coming to town for the funeral on Friday and pondered the options of purple.

Blank screen.

I hated to impose on my friends to, once again, come up with the purple prose story to get us going. So (LOL) I decided to preempt the color purple this week and do something else. Hope you enjoy!

Rules of the Universe

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. Don't worry about what people think; they don't do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

6. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention! It never fails.)

7. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

8. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

9. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

10. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

11. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

12. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

13. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

14. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

15. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

16. Opportunities always look bigger after they have passed.

17. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

18. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

19. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

20. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

21. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

22. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

23. It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.

24. There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness.'

25. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

26. You should not confuse your career with your life.

27. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

28. Never lick a steak knife.

29. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

30. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

31. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

32. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

33. Your friends love you anyway.

34. Thought for the day: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

35. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

Hope everyone is having a great week and for most everyone, only one more "get-up" this week (My hubby works weekends so he doesn't get to play this game).

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

"The real winners in life are the people who look at every situation with an expectation that they can make it work or make it better."

Barbara PletcherAuthor

Thanks, everyone, for the cyber hugs and well-wishes yesterday.

What a whirlwind week!! That trip to Daytona is exhausting - in a fun way. It would be even better if we had good weather for a change!! (In the 51 year history of the Daytona 500, it's only been shortened for rain 4 times. We've been there for 2 of them)

I took a ton of pictures that I'll add to my Myspace page as soon as I can get them loaded. And after I see what I've got, I'll post a few of the better, special ones here.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Well, once again, I have no story to get us started. But we do have a theme!

Auto/Car/Garage/Dip stick...you get the picture.

Cara had an interesting experience last weekend when she took her car in for a new tire. The "dipstick" (her term, not mine) that was working the counter tried to sell her four new tires, a new batter, brake fluid and...something else, I think. Her comment to him was priceless and I'm not even going to try to remember (hopefully, she'll post it).

Her experience, in conjunction with my being in Daytona for Speedweeks, sparked the idea for this weeks theme.

I won't be back to the computer until late Thursday evening. But I hope you guys have a good time with this week's theme.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Last Saturday on Plotmonkeys guest blogger, Cathie Linz, touched on the subject of dealing with fear and writing. She listed seveal books she'd found helpful and one of those she listed was "Fear of Writing." (sorry I don't have a good picture of the cover that I can show you)

I checked out the website and, being fond of instant gratification, was thrilled to find I could get it as an e-book.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

OK...confession time. Stress has killed my creativity. I've been thinking about this for days (6 to be exact) and I just can't come up with anything purple. Luanna helped me put together a list of words that "have to work." I just can't seem to make them work.

Please show me what you guys can do with this list. I KNOW you guys can come up with some amazing stories and I can't wait to read them. Hubby has two doctors appointments at Duke today so I won't be back to my computer until this evening. I'm counting on you guys to have some great stories to put a huge smile on my face and make me laugh.

Name suggestions:Brick MortarMason Cindy Block (she sounds like a dominatrix to me)

Words we came up with:Pound(ing)Hammer(ed)Nail(ed)ScrewScrewdriverBangDriveRivetWhackStroke

I can't wait to see what you come up with. Have fun, everyone!!Peace and Love,Alannah

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

I try to post something motivational or inspirational on Tuesdays. Well, this is as good as it gets, in my opinion. This is how I want to be when I'm 80 or 90 years old!! (The e-mail I got said 90, the video said 80) Either way, this is the way I want to be. If you're short on time, fast forward through the beginning when she does regular ball-room style dancing and get to the "good" stuff.